


Fakers And Functionality

by addviolence, VocaSonic



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Romance, Dating, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Feelings-lots of them, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Rivals With Benefits, Switching, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 00:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13201803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addviolence/pseuds/addviolence, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VocaSonic/pseuds/VocaSonic
Summary: Set after ShTH. Sonic and Shadow are on a whole new adventure- dating! And they're promptly forced to deal with the humor and hardships a relationship entails. How do you date your rival? Not easily. Especially when one of them is dealing with past angst and the other is a real noob at this 'commitment and romance' business. All while still trying to keep it on the downlow. They'll make it work, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> FUUUUU-another RP with addviolence! This time a lot lighter and fluffier, with more sonadow-y goodness. Watch these nerds try and get along. Yeah, it'll be OOC sometimes, just suck it up and enjoy the sugar rotting fluff. Otherwise we're tryin to go for as canon as we can, but we're also having fun with it.  
> Storywise, everything's the same with canon, except for Sonic and Shads having a rivals-with-benefits relationship during SA2. Too much sexual tension there, and this fic's rating will probably go up once they go down. No, I'm not sorry for that.
> 
> As mentioned before, this is right after the events of Shadow The Hedgehog(game) to avoid confusion. Apologies for any typos and weird structure, it's fresh from the doc!

_“Created.. the Ultimate Lifeform..”_ _Sonic spoke softly to himself, gazing out the view of the planet he-no, **they** just saved from the ARK’s windows._

_ “What’s the matter, Sonic?” Amy chirped from his side. _

_ “Oh, it’s nothing… come on, let’s go home! To the planet as cool and blue as me!” Sonic gave the girl a smile, walking away from the window and towards the giant metal door. He gave a final glance back. “Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.” _

Sonic thought that would’ve been the last time his mind would’ve lingered on Shadow. He was dead, made a heroic decision to give his life for billions of others’. Sonic would remember Shadow the Hedgehog as someone who he could respect, even after all they went through. 

Though only some time later, and there he was again. Sonic wouldn’t have thought he’d lay sight on familiar black and red quills ever again, but here the faker was, in the flesh. 

_“Heh! Talk about being stubborn and full of surprises._ ” Shadow was back, and they were fighting again. A proper introduction was put aside, however, because right after Metal Sonic and Eggman were taken care of, he was off again. 

Their relationship… had been interesting. On the ARK and such, it was very...to put it lightly…  _ rivals with benefits-y. _ And it got Sonic thinking. Now that he knew Shadow was back, something in his gut had dropped. Something was empty, and he didn’t sleep the night he realized he missed Shadow’s company. Not fighting with Shadow, not fucking with Shadow, but  _ Shadow. _ As a person. A whole. A friend, and dare he say it, maybe a little bit more than that.

Then the sky collapsed a few years later. Nothing major, just another alien overlord. What caught him was when that alien overlord turned out to be Shadow’s practical  _ biological dad, _ and that was a little intimidating. Just a tiny bit. He did his best to moral Shadow to the good side, to be a hero, save the world again. Lucky how  _ that _ turned out. But after that incident, and Shadow got his memory back… 

_ “Shadow… that was SWEET.”  _   


He hunted down his dopple, brought him to someplace quiet where they could be alone for awhile, and he never really had the intention of what happened next. 

_ “I wanted.. needed, to talk to you. Now that you remember everything and all, uh, I guess while you were gone..” Sonic stumbled with his words, “I dunno if you remember anything on the ARK, or whatever, but I guess what I’m tryna say is- Chaos, how does Amy make this look so easy? Fuck it, I’ll just show you.”  _

That kiss seemed like it had lasted an eternity, and as fast as the Sonic took to the world, everything dove into slow motion the moment his lips met his rival’s for the first time. And he certainly wasn’t expecting Shadow to kiss him back, either.

So that brought him to where he was tonight. Not even a full week had passed yet, it’d be six days since they’d become ‘official’, thought the word ‘boyfriend’ was still something Sonic wasn’t entirely used to using in his head, much less with Shadow of all people, but it wasn’t weird, either. He looked at the clock, it being 3:26 in the morning. He’d just been caught up thinking about the other hedgehog, and he rolled over to his other side  _ again _ , holding his cellphone in his hands. His messages were pulled up, the name ‘Faker <3’ being the recipient labeled up top. Sonic hesitated to hit the ‘send’ button on his screen, looking over the mushy, lovesickening paragraph of text.   


_hey, shads, don’t mind the timestamp on this lol good morning, it’s really late right now and i cant stop thinking about you and stuff. no ones rly made my heart pitter patter like this before and i just want u to know that i love ya and i miss u sometimes even. we should race again soon or just do something i think that’d be fun. anyways i hope u have a nice morning and breakfast and ill probably see you soon but i love you!_  
  
Was it too long? Maybe it wasn’t long enough. He didn’t know! He scanned over it again and again until his gut kicked in and he just let it send and clicked the screen off. He’d only have to deal with the ridicule when he woke up again, when the sun was up and Shadow saw it.   
  
If Shadow were to have ever been asked if he expected his life to lead up to where he was today, he would have had a novel worth of words to say to explain that _no, he had no anticipation for any of this,_ even if the ultimate lifeform had been a man of few words himself. He had one purpose in his creation, but his world up in space had been taken, turned upside down, and had everything shaken out of it. It wasn’t ideal. It definitely was nothing easy to readjust to down on this planet he had sworn to protect. Nothing made sense here. Or maybe he had just never made sense - didn’t _belong._  
  
Over the course of a few years, the hedgehog had many cases of what he considered failure upon himself. Each time,  he would get up only to be crushed and stomped on into the ground. At what point was he to give up completely..? It never seemed possible to, as many times as he wished he could.  
  
Why though..?  
  
Many times he asked himself this questions, his thoughts would immediately race back to that one goofy blue speedster. Sonic had been his rival, his only true competition.. his _hero_ , as the blue hedgehog had been to many others. Something good was always brought into Shadow’s perspective on life when Sonic was around, something always pushed him to do better. Even if he had to fight the other in order to prove how much better he could become. But even when Shadow had stumbled, was too weak and broken, the blue hedgehog had never done anything to make him feel less of himself. No, he was understanding. He was encouraging. Inspiring.  
  
Sonic saved his life.   
  
Sure, he was debatably the strongest creature in existence, never to physically be brought down, but Sonic had saved his life in a different way. Just in who he was, just in _being_ there.  
  
Even when he had not remembered his true history with Sonic, the ebon had still felt such a good aura radiate from him - he was familiar. He was safe.   
  
Shadow had felt his walls comfortably break down in Sonic’s presence many times in the events of trying to chase his past, having been taken advantage of by outside forces - including his own father. He didn’t know who he was or who he could trust, but he could trust _Sonic._ The blue blur had been the only one to hold him the many times he couldn’t handle the reality of his own situation, the stress and anxiety it induced to not know one's true self. To himself then, Shadow had been nobody - but his rival had done what he could to assure that he was the exact opposite of that. That he was _somebody._ __  
__  
Sure, the two argued and physically tore each other apart on quite a few occasions, but their respect for one another as individuals had never dropped. If anything, it only made them appreciate each other more.  
  
Their scandalous charade of becoming more physically intertwined behind closed doors even opened up a new world for Shadow to be apart of, exploring that body of his rival in ways he’d never known possible. Sonic was beautiful, in every single sense of the word. Simple, but also such a challenge. A frustrating challenge.  
  
It only made sense for them to be together eventually.  The black hedgehog didn’t ever have to say much for Sonic to understand him, and this only made Shadow more prone to open up to him in many situations - even if it was in his own special way of communicating what he felt. This had definitely been the case whenever Sonic had surprisingly made his attempt to pour his heart out to the ultimate lifeform. Not much was needed to be said, anyways. There had been this silent understanding between them before, but of course Sonic was bold enough to address it properly. Shadow hadn’t even said much in that moment despite such an opportunity being presented to him to go into a long monologue of his admiration and affection for the blue blur. Even if he had not said much, Shadow had poured everything he needed - _wanted_ \- to say into that kiss shared between them. By the end of it, Shadow only remembered uttering a few words to his rival as he had gazed into those emerald eyes.  
  
_”I think I’m in love with you..”_ he stated almost breathlessly.  
  
This confession had only taken place a few days ago now, the two deciding that they would be together. The label somehow made this endeavor so foreign to Shadow. A boyfriend..? That seemed so strange to him. Yes, he was definitely happier to claim and be claimed by Sonic. But it certainly was an adjustment to him.   
  
Tonight, Shadow had been unable to sleep. He had often had a stranger sleeping schedule than most would, mostly due to the fact that he did not technically _need_ sleep. But he would indulge in it from time to time. However, the ebon was aware that other lifeforms needed rest, which brought forth much confusion when he noticed that Sonic was texting him at such an odd hour.  
  
His heart fluttered in his chest upon reading the words his boyfriend sent, and he couldn’t help but smile to himself as he thought of what to say in return.   
  
_Aren't you up rather late?_ he sent back rather quickly in a first message, then found himself typing again after he hit send.  
  
__Nevermind that. You’ve made my night. I would love to see you soon, Sonic. I love you dearly.   
  
Sent.  
  
His words were simple in comparison to that of the speedster, but he believed he had gotten his point across as directly as possible.

Sonic’s eyes were shut until a bright glow made him open them again, his phone lighting up from a notification of a return text. He snapped awake when he saw that Shadow had replied within this unholy hour in the morning, just a few minutes later.    
  
_ what am I doing up?? I could ask u the same question _ __  
_ Love u too. but u know i don’t like waiting. I would go see u right now but i dont wanna wake up tails. _ __  
__  
He sent his reply, seeing the three dots on the other side almost immediately pop up once he did.    
  
_ Hang on. _   
  
Those had been the only two words Shadow sent in response, leaving only a few possibilities open as to what he meant. Very soon, he’d make his intentions clear. Shadow had only been to the blue blur’s house a small handful of times, and usually it was to visit with Sonic’s little brother in his workshop to repair something. As far as the ebon could really remember, he didn’t think he’d ever visited for any personal reasons until tonight.   
  
Sonic didn’t live too far, though. Making his way there had only taken a few minutes, and though Shadow had never once been in Sonic’s bedroom, he could figure out where it was.   
  
A soft knocking was made on the hero’s window after Shadow had climbed up the tree next to it, the black hedgehog then sitting back and waiting. The ebon was quite awkward at this romance thing, but that hadn’t meant that he didn’t try from time to time in order to put an effort in. A small flower had been in one of his hands, the ultimate lifeform having once admired its beauty. A small gesture, but Shadow had definitely thought of his boyfriend enough to bring it. Softness wasn’t really in his nature, but the blue blur had already known to elicit that characteristic out of him a few times already.   
  
Sonic squinted at the reply, sending a few question marks in response but nothing else. Soon though, the soft knocks he heard from one side of his room caught his attention, and he leapt out of bed to go tend to it. The blue hedgehog stifled a laugh when he saw his lover outside, flower in hand. He opened the window, feeling the rush of chilled air blow around him.    
  
“Oh Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefor art thou Romeo?” Sonic whispered, “However forth shall you fit through my window to get to your beloved prize?” he continued, mentioning the rather small fit. Not that this wasn’t a window Sonic had jumped through time and time again before, but Shadow’s quills, with the way they were styled, surely wouldn’t make it through without either making serious damage to the wall, or various amounts of noise.   
  
At first, Shadow had grinned in response to Sonic’s words. However, once the other had mentioned the window, his face fell neutral again as he pondered his options over. Remaining confident to get inside, he thought he had it all figured out.   
“Don’t worry about it - I got it,” came his dry response, “Chaos control.”   
  
Time stopped, the ebon having decided his entrance would be much quieter this way. He began to squeeze his way through the window headfirst, this having already made the process way too difficult. His quills had gotten stuck, pushing them through proving to be a feat of endurance at this point. However, it seemed that once he got his head through, he lost his balance and completely toppled over in a flip into the bedroom, a few of Sonic’s belongings becoming a casualty in his fall on the way.   
  
_ Smooth. _   
  
Groaning, Shadow sat up and rubbed his head for a moment. “Shit...” he mumbled once he noticed everything he’d knocked over, having not wanted Sonic to know how much of a struggle he really had. The ebon picked up a stack of books that had gotten caught up in the flurry of his entrance, having put them back on the shelf by the window they were on beforehand. He’d had to actually move the bookshelf over a few inches, having accidentally kicked it on his way in. But there had been a few other items like pens and other nick nacks that had fallen and needed to be rearranged, and Shadow had tried his best to make it look as normal as possible. But even the shelf itself was out of place, probably to an extent where at least Sonic would notice once time resumed.   
  
But he had thought he did a satisfactory job, wanting to hide his embarrassing endeavor completely.   
  
Shadow then ran his hands through his quills, fixing the messy fray they had become moments ago. Sitting back on the bed and crossing his legs, Shadow allowed time to run its course again.   
  
“Nothing to it,” the ebon said with a grin to his lover, smoothly making it out to be that  he had no struggle at all to get in.   
  
Sonic blinked, and suddenly his boyfriend was sitting on his bed. He grinned, shutting the window and turning on his heel, his own quills bumping into the now suddenly out of place bookshelf.  _ Huh. _ He could’ve swore it wasn’t there before. He ignored that fact though, practically leaping onto his partner and letting the mattress creak slightly at the combination of weight. “Right…” He pulled up the blankets and cuddled up under them, the faint warmth of his own body heat of not too long ago still lingering. But of course, not without dragging Shadow with him.    
  
Sonic buried his muzzle into that chest fluff he was lowkey envious of, limbs wrapping around his ultimate-lifeform-turned-pillow. “You’re cold,” He commented, exhaling into the white fur, “allow me to warm ya right back up.”   
  
Shadow had placed the flower on Sonic’s bedside table in the meanwhile, having then happily accepted his boyfriend’s desire to get under the covers. The ebon was more than happy to just hold Sonic in his arms, a soft purr rumbling in his throat as he placed a few gentle kisses on top of the other’s head.   
  
“Oh, I don’t know what I would do without you to keep me warm,” he chuckled, giving his boyfriend a playful nip at the tip of his ear. “Are you not tired..?” Shadow then asked, having kept then remembered part of the reason he’d even shown up in the first place.   
  
Sonic shrugged. “I was, but then my brain had other ideas.” His tone went high, in a whiny imitation, “‘Noooo,’ It cried, ‘no sleep. Only Shadoooow.’” He huffed. Sonic peaked his head up to look at Shadow, getting a nice underview from where he was at. Chaos, he could pull off any angle, couldn’t he? “I just think it’s crazy. You’re crazy.  _ I’m _ crazy. Not that crazy’s a bad thing…”    
  
The hero ran his hand up Shadow’s side then, from his hip to about halfway up his ribcage. “I dunno if I should’ve saw it coming, or not expected this in the slightest. But either way, I’m happy about it.”   
  
Shadow snickered in amusement at Sonic’s goofy imitation, shaking his head slightly in response. He’d let himself carefully run a hand through Sonic’s quills then, feeling content in laying here at his side and just listening to the cobalt talk. Sometimes his chatter could annoy the ultimate lifeform, no doubt about it. But in these moments, Sonic’s voice was almost like music to his ears.   
  
The ebon slightly tensed, then shuddered when he felt fingertips moving up his body, as if the brief action had tickled him a bit. But Sonic’s words then got him wondering, a soft smile coming to his muzzle.   
  
“And what is it exactly that you’re going on about now?” He questioned, pulling Sonic’s body up slightly so that he could turn on his side, looking at the other male face-to-face. “I think maybe  _ you’re _ just crazy,” he mused, “But I don’t have a problem with that.”   
  
“Says the guy who nearly blew up the planet,  _ twice. _ ” Sonic retorted, then pausing. “But I’m dating that guy now. So we  __ both gotta be nuts.” 

“You’re a criminal by association now,” the ebon joked, though technically Shadow did in fact have a tight record for the crimes he’d committed before, giving the  government good reason to keep eye on him as heavily as they did.    
  
Sonic purred, leaning in and brushing his lips over Shadow’s jaw. He took a breath before-

_ Pfffbbhht! _

-blowing something fierce onto Shadow’s muzzle.The noise seemed to echo around the quiet room, a wet mark planting itself on the attacked skin when Sonic yanked himself back. 

Shadow let out a small gasp when the other had done something so childish, the action itself clearly catching him off guard. But of course, he was more than willing to fight back.    
  
The ultimate lifeform then rolled over to place himself on top of Sonic and holding him down, a slight smirk on his face. “Or better yet, maybe I could just make you my  _ hostage, _ ” he snickered.   
  
“Weird. For being so worried about being quiet, you’re quite the noisemaker, aren’t you?” Shadow then teased, bringing a hand down to tickle his boyfriend’s belly.   
  
Sonic lurched, curling in on the hand in attempt to make it stop. “Sh-shh! You’re not helping!” He spoke through clenched teeth, being quiet as he could under the childish attack. “We’re gonna wake Tails!” The hero defended himself, using his knees to push Shadow away enough so he could be out of reach. Sonic slipped downwards underneath Shadow, not having enough room to bail from the side but he used his head to mush into the ebon’s soft gut, and laying another raspberry or two there. His hands wrapped around Shadow’s waist so the other couldn’t escape, and this only proved a problem when he realized that oxygen was important.    
  
“It’s more your problem than mine,” Shadow stubbornly joked, though of course not actually wanting to be caught in the hero’s bedroom either. The ebon had also been doing his best to stay quiet, even when it came to holding in laughter from Sonic’s defensive mechanism. The blue blur had him in his grasp, but that didn’t mean Shadow wasn’t going to take advantage of his attempts to end the ebon’s attack. He squirmed in protest for a moment in response to the other blowing on his stomach, laughing quietly. But then in retort, Shadow decided to turn Sonic’s little plan against him. The ultimate lifeform allowed himself to fall limp, putting all of his deadweight on the other male without remorse. That would show him.  
  
Sonic wanted to say, ‘ _Dying! I’m dying right here!_ ’ but against Shadow’s body it sounded a lot more like “Dhuin, Iem dhung igh heer!”. The good side is that the sound would be muffled so a certain fox across the hallway couldn’t likely hear his protests, the downside is that the person he wanted to have hear his protests couldn’t understand him well, if at all. Sonic had lifted heavier things in his time, sure, but going ragdoll was  _ mean.  _ Two could play at that game. Sonic bit whatever flesh he could catch in his mouth, grabbing and flipping them over now that Shadow was limp.    
  
His lungs sucked in a deep breath of fresh air, and he collapsed on top of the other hedgehog for a moment before shooting a salty look at him. “I was suffocating, you jerk.”     
  
Shadow had been amused at Sonic’s struggle, but his body tensed up slightly when he was bitten. However, being a corpse in the moment meant that he wasn’t going to fight back when Sonic finally managed to force him off. At that point though, the black hedgehog looked as smug as ever in contrast to Sonic’s mild frustration.    
“What?” Shadow asked in mock oblivion, “Is my looove too suffocating for you..?”  He put his arms back on the pillow to prop his head up, a complete shiteating grin on his muzzle.“I thought you could handle clingy.”   
  
Sonic scoffed, pulling himself back up so their faces were level with each other again. "I haven't seen any giant hammers yet, so you're fine." Green eyes rolled and then shut as he leaned in again, this time properly landing a kiss on Shadow and not a goofy declaration of war. "Love you too." He spoke, rather declaring something else.   
  
“Maybe I should take a page or two then,” he said, of course not meaning it. Shadow was very well aware that he was Sonic’s better match compared to that young girl.   
He then  happily reached an arm around so that he could run a hand through Sonic’s quills, even pulling him in closer when they kissed. Even something so small and innocent as a kiss still got his heart racing, an almost giddy sensation going through him. Sonic was just so..  _ magnetizing. _   
  
It was short-lived, Shadow hesitantly breaking the kiss. He then gazed at emerald eyes, sighing softly in content before placing another small peck on the hero’s lips.   
“I don’t think I could ever get tired of any of this..” he murmured.   
  
Sonic purred into the kiss, genuinely smiling as he snuggled up against Shadow again in a much more docile way, enjoying the chills running down his spine when he was pet so gently. “Me too… speaking of which, I could fall asleep right here.” He curled up on Shadow’s side, forfeiting his own pillow to use his lover instead. Clearly comfortable, blue eyelids fluttered shut in relaxation. “What if you didn’t go?” Sonic mumbled in suggestion.    
  
Shadow nuzzled against the other male briefly, a soft purr in his throat. He wanted to stay, that couldn’t be mistaken. However, he knew it probably wasn’t the best idea. The ebon sighed softly in response, having known he really didn’t have much better to do.  “..I can stay until you fall asleep, if you’d like,” he then suggested. There were too many risks at hand - Sonic’s little brother could walk in the room in the morning, and there would’ve been no excuse to give about him being there in Sonic’s bed.  “Maybe.. I can see you later in the day afterwards.”   
  
Sonic gave a silent nod, settling for now. “There’s that thingy in the evening..” He mentioned. Yeah. The president had called him in, and there was some fancy dinner party to celebrate the world not being destroyed by aliens or whatever. Surely Shadow had known about it too, Sonic figured he was invited personally as well. “We can do somethin’ after it’s over. If they don’t have chilidogs we can get some real food.” His voice got softer until it faded, a wave of sleep crashing over Sonic since now he had what he desired, contentment drifting him away.    
  
When the sun was up, Sonic woke up to an oddly empty bed, drooling slightly onto a pillow he was clinging to instead of what he fell asleep to. It was 11AM, and time to start the day, he supposed.   
  
Shadow had actually not known of this event, but even so, it didn’t seem to be the most ideal setting for him to be in. The black hedgehog had caused enough trouble, even if he had redeemed himself twice - and even now worked for the government himself. He didn’t think that being around this world’s president would make for a very peaceful crowd - not that Shadow had any sort of rhyme or reason to formulate some kind of attack.   
  
But Sonic asked him to go.   
  
Sonic would be there, and that would make everything okay.   
  
The ultimate lifeform had been pondering it over as he lay in bed with his slumbering boyfriend, having finally made his decision silently by the time he forced himself to get up and leave as quietly as he could.   
  
Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic loves his boyfriend too much and Shadow gets stage fright.

Fast forward to later on in the day, anxiety crept up on the ultimate lifeform, an uneasy feeling in his gut as he weaved through the crowd of people. He was right - he was not exactly welcome, judging by some of the looks he was given. Nobody dared challenge his presence, but the silent judgement was enough to make Shadow want to turn tail and leave. Sonic was surely somewhere, right..? The hero was known to ease tension, and his presence would not only ease the crowd of people in knowing that Sonic could protect them - but it would ease Shadow’s own stresses and anxieties as well, of course. It was just a matter of finding him. But being a 3”3 hedgehog in a crowd of average sized people did not make this an easy search.   
  
Somewhere in the room, Sonic had this all in the bag. He was familiar with events like this, even though the quiet atmosphere and all the people randomly thanking him wasn’t really his scene. The humans all around him dressed to the nines almost made him feel out of place and underdressed, even though he thought his sneakers would be fine on their own with the rest of his casual attire, gloves and socks. He couldn’t find Shadow for the life of him, though. Which was upsetting to a degree, but surely he’d find him with enough time! Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

Soon enough, there was a loud couple of dings that bounced around the room, and everyone was sitting down with fancy salads or dinner plates. He’d preferred a simple chilidog himself, so his own assigned food was left untouched as the president made some speech, yadayadayada- oh they said his name. Guess it was time to go up there.

“Hey everybody! Thanks for having me tonight. Uh, it’s good to know the world’s not ending,  _ again, _ ” Sonic said, hearing the assorted laughter run through the crowd. He took a moment to look over the people, searching for his boyfriend in the midst of it all. There were other friends of his there, and he saw familiar faces like the Chaotix, Knuckles, Tails, even Amy was here it looked like... too bad ‘black’ was a popular color for those suits everyone was so obsessed with. Humans with red ties didn’t help, either. Damn. 

“I feel almost bad for saying this, but I really didn’t do much this time. I believe that credit should be given where it’s due, and that’s not to me. In fact, I don’t think that  _ I _ would be here without the true hero here tonight.” Sonic sighed, making his search go public. It’d be a lot easier to find Shadow if everyone else was looking for him, too. “Does anybody know if Shadow the Hedgehog made it? Please? Whether he did or not, I got some things to say.”   
  
Unfortunate that he couldn’t find the blue blur before the ceremony actually began, but at least Sonic was easier to spot when he’d been obligated to step up and speak. Shadow was just as admirable of the hero as anyone else, if not more. He knew how to woo a crowd with his easygoing charm, knew how to keep their attention on him.   
He was lost in his thoughts as Sonic spoke. The cobalt was so handsome, so captivating. A ray of light in his life. Sonic was just undeniably so perfe-   
  
_...What. _   
  
Shadow’s thoughts immediately fell flat when he heard his name, and suddenly eyes were all over him,  _ burning _ holes into him. The black hedgehog felt that he was in a cold sweat, a chill going down his spine as he was frozen in place. Why was Sonic calling him out like this?    
  
People were hesitant but willing to comply to Sonic’s search by ushering the anti-hero up to the front, much against his wishes.   
  
Not only was Shadow uncomfortable, but now he looked irritated, having had to resist snapping at the people who dared put his hands on him. But once he was up in the front of the crowd, he appeared more vulnerable and afraid again now that all of the attention was brought to him.   
  
It was hard for Shadow to make his legs move, frozen in nervousness.

But then he snapped out of it, though he still gazed at his boyfriend with nothing but utter shock. Forcing himself to step forth by his lover’s side, Shadow had been visibly tense. Every look he received was one of either fright or disgust, which only earned a scowl from the ultimate lifeform in response. If this turned on him, Shadow was aware that these people were just mere  _ insects _ when it came to his strength. He could wipe the floor with them if necessary.   
  
Arms crossed, Shadow then brought his attention back to Sonic - not a trace of amusement in his expression. He was  _ not _ happy.   
  
“What on earth do you think you’re doing, you twit..?” He whispered irritably, though trying to keep his cool. “Nobody wants me up here.”    
  
This wasn’t even the worst to come, and he was nowhere near prepared.   
  
Sonic’s face lit up when Shadow was found, honestly glad he made it. He knew Shadow didn’t take kindly being the center of attention much, however, but he felt like he needed to make things right. He’d make this short, anyways. “But you deserve to be up here.” He whispered back, his gaze returning to the moderately shocked crowd.    
  
“I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve your medals, your awards, and your thanks. I wasn’t the one who fought Devil Doom, and I wasn’t the one to save everyone. So Mr. President,” Sonic snatched the little gold medallion hanging off of a blue ribbon in the human’s hands, promptly tying it around Shadow’s neck in a gesture that was a little close for comfort in the public eye. “I’d rather have everyone know that they shouldn’t despise Shadow for his previous actions. We’re kinda close now, I’ll admit, and the looks I see on some of your faces makes me sad. Haven’t you ever shown development as a person? Did something bad, but learn from it and go forward to make good instead? In my opinion, no one should judge him for that.” Sonic linked their arms together, his body naturally leaning towards the more uncomfortable hedgehog.   
  
“Shadow’s done a lot for not only me, but the entire world, and you should be thanking  _ him, _ not me. It was his sacrifice in the first place a few years ago too, if I recall, and I got the credit for that too! So actually, this is the second time he’s been more heroic than yours truly!” Sonic continued rambling, one point after another popping up in his mind. It ticked Sonic off that he had taken so much of what should have been Shadow’s. People didn’t understand him, didn’t see the good in him. He had to change that, or at least start changing it. “Shadow’s amazing. Treat him right, and he’ll treat you better than you could have ever imagined. That’s what he’s shown me.”    
  
Shadow was utterly too shell shocked to process everything that was taking place in this moment, his nerves rising with every syllable that left his boyfriend’s lips. Why was he doing this..? Of course  _ rationally _ he knew Sonic genuinely was doing this out of good intent, but the alarms ringing in his head kept telling him that Sonic was maybe doing this to make  _ himself _ look better to the public eye. However, he kept having to swipe that thought brought on by his frayed emotions right back under the carpet over and over again as Sonic spoke. No, this wasn’t about Sonic trying to flaunt a generous persona to the media - the blue blur firmly believed Shadow deserved this credit, and he knew it. However, the anti-hero did not think his good deeds even needed to be given attention. It wasn’t about credit, it wasn’t about looking good to the public and receiving praise.    
  
It was just something he had to do in the moments presented to him, and he didn’t care if it was morally right or wrong to _ any _ of these people. They meant nothing to him personally - they were  _ spineless _ , sinful creatures. And Shadow was becoming increasingly more and more aware of the fact that he could easily snap anyone’s neck within proximity in this moment - even  _ Sonic’s. _   
  
The ultimate lifeform remained silent during the whole speech, though his fur and quills were seemingly rising to naturally indicate his discomfort. Remaining rigid when Sonic spoke, when Sonic dared to even touch him, and when Sonic made such a bold statement at the end that could have had  _ so _ many more meanings than Shadow wanted anyone to pick up on - the black hedgehog not dared uttered a word this whole time.

But when a flash of light momentarily blinded him in the moment Sonic had been all up on him, that’s when Shadow lost his cool. Completely  _ snapped. _   
  
The ultimate lifeform scowled, shoving his boyfriend off of him in the same motion as he ripped the medal from his person and dropped it to the floor.   
“Stop. I don’t care about any of you. I didn’t do  _ anything _ for  _ any _ of you pathetic individuals. I don’t want your praise - I could care less for what any of you think of me, I’ve already learnt enough from trying to give a shit about anyone’s weak-minded opinions of me,” Shadow went on venomously, “You’re all lucky I never took advantage of this planet’s weakness when it was down, as many of you have chosen to do - not to just me, but to  _ anyone. _ You never  _ deserved _ to be saved, it was never a thought in my mind for anything I did.”   
  
This had probably been the most words spoken by Shadow in a long while, an obvious pent up aggression that he had manifested rather than dealing with before. But now he was just  _ pissed. _ And it was all Sonic’s fault. A stark difference in them obviously came clear this day, for Shadow did not tolerate the public being all over him in the same way Sonic could deal with it.   
  
Shaking his head, he had been fully aware that he flipped a complete 180 against Sonic’s final statement on the ultimate lifeform. But Shadow was too deep in his recklessness to take it back, he’d already been riled up and was not only selfishly - but  _ foolishly _ \- acting out on his feelings rather than think it through.   
  
“None of you can ever make up your mind if you hate me or not anyways. What difference does anything I say or do make?” He growled, daring to even flip off the stunned crowd. Shadow almost just walked away plainly, but knew he’d be followed by either cameras or maybe even Sonic. That being said...   
“Chaos control,” he muttered under his breath.   
  
And he was gone.   
  
...for Sonic, there was a multitude of words that he could describe what just happened as.   
  
Unexpected? Sure.    
  
Uncalled for? Yes.   
  
Rude? Probably.   
  
Sonic was dragged back into a sense of reality as suddenly he was surrounded by people flocking around him, asking him what the hell just happened when Sonic was trying to figure that all out himself. He picked up the medal that was tossed on the floor so carelessly, sticking it inside his glove as he thought. Shadow used Chaos control to go somewhere, and he was going to hunt him down. In a blue streak of light, he too, was gone from the ceremony.   
  
What went wrong? He knew Shadow was uncomfortable, but he would have thought after showing people that Shadow wasn’t so bad, the guy would lighten up a little. Boy, how that backfired. Didn’t Shadow trust him by now?   
  
Hmm. Thoughts like those weren’t fun. He kept running. He first stopped at Shadow’s house, and when there was no sight of anyone there he kept moving. He eventually got to Club Rouge, zipping up to the bar where the bat herself was cleaning up.    
  
“Hey,” Sonic let his breath catch up to him, taking a seat on one of the high chairs. “did an angsty emo run in here not too long ago?”    
  
Rouge looked the blue blur up and down, setting a glass down on a rack with various other glasses. “I don’t know, but even if he did, I doubt he’d want to see  _ you _ right now.” She jabbed a thumb at the TV screen behind her, headlines blaring of **‘SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG OUTRAGE - SONIC’S FRIEND FLIPS OFF - HERO OR VILLIAN?’** ****  
  
Sonic let his head hit the counter in defeat. “Chaos, this is the opposite of what I wanted-”   
  
“Hey! I’m cleaning that!” The bat swatted his head back up, wiping the place his head was just a moment ago with a towel. “Fine, whatever. He’s upstairs in the back. Don’t tell him I let you in willingly.”   
  
And with that, Sonic was already gone. The last couple steps he approached slowly, calling out into the room. “Shadow..? Shadow, what the hell? I don’t know if you want an apology or not but, can you explain what happened back there?”   
  
Shadow had still been quite rattled, having been in a dark room Rouge had in the back of the club - they’d often come to hang out here. The only source of light came from  pink neon signs hung up along the wall. The ebon was at first being stubborn in not answering Sonic once it was clear that he’d shown up, an irritation bubbling in him only because he had asked his best friend to not let him know of his whereabouts.   
  
The black hedgehog sighed, trying to calm down for a moment before he was meant to face his boyfriend. It was his fault though..! Wasn’t it? Or was Shadow just being rude and selfish?   
  
It didn’t matter. He felt what he felt on the manner. Shadow wanted no indication that he and Sonic had been close. Wanted no attention from the media in his personal affairs and ordeals. He didn’t want any of that. Sure, he didn’t have to make a scene, but it was better for people to fear him enough to leave him alone rather than follow him in adoration, getting in his business.   
  
“Look,” was all he’d started saying as he got up from the plush couch he was sitting on, sighing as he approached the door. Opening it, Shadow appeared just as annoyed with what was going on. Just less... aggressive.   
  
“I don’t want them expecting  _ anything _ from me. It’ll only lead to disappointment eventually if not now. Maybe you can handle the expectation of consistently holding good morals on your shoulders, but that isn’t me,” he tried to explain himself swiftly. “You shouldn’t have done that.”   
  
Sonic stepped into the room, listening to what his significant other had to say. He understood where Shadow was coming from, and saw why he’d be upset about it, but still… “Just because you’re in good standing with people doesn’t mean you should meet their expectations. You  _ do _ have good morality, Shadow. I’ve seen it. And anyways, you don’t gotta be like me to have people not hate you. It just makes me upset that people see you as this bad guy when that’s not who you are at all!” The blue blur slumped on the sofa in defeat, spreading his arms out as if he wanted a hug of some sort. “You’re my boyfriend..” He mumbled, careful if Rouge could hear him from below. “And I want them to like seeing your face as much as I do. That’d be nice, yknow? And it goes the other way too. Now whenever you do something nice people are always gonna doubt it because you have a bad boy, three feet tall, dark and handsome rep about you, yknow?”   
  
Sonic sighed deeply, falling so he was lying down horizontally on the couch. “I’m sorry if it feels forced or whatever or if it’s something you don’t see any benefit from, but, I think you deserve this.” He held up the little golden coin he fished out of his glove, fumbling with it between his fingers. “Heroes don’t have to be popular. Just be a silent knight or something badass like that.” And here we go, he was turning it into a joke. “The hero this town needs, but never deserves. Then I could be dating Batman! Bat-hog! Now  _ that’s _ cool.” Sonic chuckled lightheartedly.    
  
Shadow shut the door behind the other male when he entered the room, knowing a thing or two he didn’t want his best friend to hear was bound to slip. Crossing his arms, the ebon sighed as he listened to his boyfriend’s counter argument. Valid points. How upsetting.   
  
By the time he was offered the medal again, Shadow hesitantly accepted it this time. It was a drastic change for him to be forced to comply in this in front of several people than it was in private with his lover - it clearly seemed more personal to him now, and meant a lot more.    
  
“I don’t think you quite understand still,” he murmured as he looked over the medal, eventually setting it aside. Ears perked in the direction of the door briefly, he’d listened if anyone was close enough to hear him. Safe for now.   
  
That being said, Shadow made his way towards the couch again, this time to straddle his boyfriend’s waist. He was much softer in his demeanor towards Sonic now, gazing at the other male more fondly before placing a small kiss on his lips. “However will I get you alone to myself if  _ both _ of us are trying to dodge the media..?” He then asked, a hand running over Sonic’s chest, working its way up until he was caressing the side of his boyfriend’s face.   
  
“You’re stupid..” he mumbled in amusement, placing another kiss on the other’s muzzle. “You were far too close to me up there, don’t you think..?”   
  
Sonic was slightly comforted at the kisses he was given, knowing that Shadow had to be feeling better now to do so. He reached up, lacing his hands around his boyfriend’s neck. “On the contrary, maybe I wasn’t close  _ enough. _ ” The blue hedgehog snickered, sweetly pressing his lips to Shadow’s and pushed himself up to sit upright again. “I think the media would get a kick out of the rumors. ‘Specially after tonight. You really want people to think you hate me?” He questioned, tossing his head back in overdramatic despair. “I can’t bear the thought! Or maybe we’ll be thought to have an abusive relationship, the great Sonic the Hedgehog, now beaten into a pathetic victim only for the pleasure of his edgy master who doesn’t know how to love! An absolute _t_ _ ragedy, _ coming soon to theatres near you.” When he pulled his head back up a shite-eating grin was plastered onto Sonic’s face. He knew he was teasing Shadow, but took some reality into the situation.   
  
“If you’re not comfy with PDA yet, then that’s fine. It still catches me off guard ‘cuz it hasn’t been that long. But I’d really like you to settle on a nice public image, yknow? You don’t have to make people not want you, to not need you. I just like helping people. That’s why I do what I do. Not because people expect me to. Okay?” Peach arms slid down to properly hug Shadow, holding the other tight.    
  
The ebon smirked slightly, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend’s jokes. But when Sonic became more serious in his concerns, so did Shadow.    
  
“I’m just.. not ready for this to be public yet. At all. I like what we have right now, just the two of us. And if people start suspecting anything is going on at all...” Shadow sighed, then resting his head on the other’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I’d rather there just be no suspicion at all,” he explained. Shadow sighed softly, putting his arms around the other male then. “We’ll see,” he then said. “But keep in mind, what I did back there had to be slightly expected - maybe not to you since you’ve gotten to know me better than most,” Shadow went on, a slight smile threatening to pull at the corners of his lips. “But, do you really think I would have let anyone else do that..?”    
  
The ebon then placed another kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek, trying to show he had meant no hard feelings with his words. “Why would I show you any sort of special treatment..?” Shadow whispered to him then, clearly intending it to be a mere joke, the ultimate lifeform almost teasingly brushing his lips against the other’s.   
  
"Because you loooove me." Sonic purred, closing the gap between them once again. He was glad that this was all sorted out now, at least personally. He'd still have to work on that public image, but that could wait. The hero was just happy to communicate with Shadow, get closer to his rival, as you do. Especially with how Shadow was with most other people... it was almost endearing, in a special sorta way. "You wanna chaos control us outta here?" He suggested. "C'mon, let's go home."   
  
“That, I do,” Shadow confirmed, purring as he placed a few playful pecks on his lover’s cheek. He was differently more prone to opening up to Sonic when it was just the two of them, as shown on many occasions. It was almost as if he had two completely different personas that depended on anyone else’s presence in a room, but truly it was just that Shadow was very selective in who he opened himself up to.   
  
The ebon nodded, then slipping out of his boyfriend’s lap in favor of lifting the blue blur into his arms himself, chaos controlling them from the bar, having forgotten to tell his best friend he was even leaving. He had more important matters to attend to, after all.


End file.
